Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Prime Day Deals
  • Superman
  • Donkey Kong Bananza
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
Cyberpunk 2077 DLC screenshot
RPGs 5 years after it was kicked off the PlayStation Store, Cyberpunk 2077 joins the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog
Lords of the Fallen screenshot showing two players side by side
Action RPGs It took 18 months and over 50 updates, but Lords of the Fallen finally added the one feature I wanted from this Soulslike RPG at launch: "full shared progression co-op"
Concord
PS5 Undeterred by Concord, Sony expands its live service army: PlayStation Studios adds new dev making a "team-based action game" targeting "years" of support
Star Wars Battlefront 2 screenshot showing
Third Person Shooters Remember 2017's Star Wars Battlefront 2? It’s good now – like, really good
the gorgeous review bomb cape with red streaks going down and small blue blocks at the top
Third Person Shooters Helldivers 2 finally gets its review bomb cape to celebrate your "unquestioning commitment to the defense of Managed Democracy"
A Helldiver holding a flag in a promotional image for Helldivers 2.
Third Person Shooters Helldivers 2 players, rejoice: Super Earth is in ruins and millions of NPCs died, but hey, we just got a sweet cape
Marvel Cosmic Invasion
Action Games I was already excited for Marvel Cosmic Invasion after the studio's incredible retro TMNT brawler, and 30 minutes of hands-on has me even more confident that the spirit of '90s arcade gaming is alive and well
  1. Games
  2. MMO

DC Universe Online - everything SOE has added since launch

Features
By Alex Roth published 11 July 2012

This superhero MMO has grown by leaps and bounds since launch

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Its also experimented with a flexible new pricing structure thats been quite a success, to say the least. So while DC Universe Online continues to thrive like Superman under our yellow sun, or Lex Luthor after a nice, long bubble bath (all that armor from the future makes him pretty sore), allow us to recount just how much has been added since the games launch...

Page 1 of 16
Page 1 of 16
Free, Premium and Legendary

Free, Premium and Legendary

great free MMOs

Legendary is the all-in, charge me $15 a month traditional subscription. Premium is what your account becomes once you spent a cumulative $5 on items, DLC, whatever. Free is free, and feels like a try before you buy sort of demo. Your character slots, inventory space, ability to form Leagues all increase as you ante up. Full breakdown here.

Page 2 of 16
Page 2 of 16
A real PvP system

A real PvP system

Best of all, the Legends PvP system allows you to throw down as DCs most famous characters. Superman, Batman, the Joker, almost anybody. Its a simulation, like the X-Mens Danger Room, so you can even have a team of Bat-people or a squad of Supermen!

Page 3 of 16
Page 3 of 16
The Green Lantern Corps

The Green Lantern Corps

Fight for Light also added more Lantern touches to the game, including missions set on Oa, the home planet of the Green Lantern Corps, and plenty of Lantern and Sinestro themed equipment.

Page 4 of 16
Page 4 of 16
Heroes and Villains working together?!

Heroes and Villains working together?!

What could make Lex Luthor and Superman put aside their age-old rivalry and work together? The better question is who, and the answer would be Brainiac. This vicious threat from outer space was dead set on downloading all of humanity into a digital hive mind, and that didnt sit right with the good guys or the bad. Lex isnt about to share his oversized brain full of insidious knowledge with anyone!

Page 5 of 16
Page 5 of 16
Crafting

Crafting

Whats an MMO without a crafting system? DCUOs Research & Development allows good guys and crooks alike to fabricate potent items and powerful Equipment Mods. It also introduced item Sockets, and a clever system of stat bonuses for combining equipment with mods of matching colors. Stylish and powerful, just like the greatest DC heroes!

Page 6 of 16
Page 6 of 16
Light, Earth and Electricity powers

Light, Earth and Electricity powers

Light came from the aptly named Fight for the Light DLC, allowing Heroes and Villains to channel the powers of the Green Lantern and Sinestro for excellent crowd control capabilities. Electricity came with the Lightning Strikes expansion. Its great for direct damage or crowd control, and can also zap fallen friendlies back to life. Finally, Earth came from the Battle for Earth DLC. A versatile power, it can be used for tanking or dealing heavy direct damage.

Page 7 of 16
Page 7 of 16
Replay Badges

Replay Badges

Its fairly typical for MMOs to lock players out of high-level instances and raids for a day or two after completion it balances out the economy, and keeps players from flooding the market with high-end gear. That said, its sort of annoying when you want to run a raid but arent able to. Replay Badges alleviate this issue, by allowing players to purchase additional runs of Raids, Alerts, and Duos. Its fairly cheap, too, costing only a few dollars for a few unlocks. Legendary players get a bunch just for being a subscriber. All in all its a nice workaround to the typical lockout system.

Page 8 of 16
Page 8 of 16
More Iconic Locations

More Iconic Locations

The Bat Cave and the Fortress of Solitude are now playable as raids and for PvP encounters, and Wonder Womans home of Themyscira, aka Paradise Island, has also been added. Central City, the Midwestern home of the Flash, has become the games third open-world urban location. While not as sprawling as the other cities, its still chock full of brand new quests.

Page 9 of 16
Page 9 of 16
Shields

Shields

Shields are light, agile weapons perfect for building up nasty combos. You can dash with them, toss them, and switch quickly between heavy and light combos.

Page 10 of 16
Page 10 of 16
Role-Optional Alerts

Role-Optional Alerts

Role-Optional Alerts will provide regen for a team with a healer, or a defense boost for a squad with no tank. This way, no team of villains or heroes is ever waiting on the bench for want of a certain class type.

Page 11 of 16
Page 11 of 16
Time Travel

Time Travel

Since DCUOs story has involved time travel from the get-go, you can bet it will be big part of ongoing plot. You know we havent seen the last of future Lex Luthor.

Page 12 of 16
Page 12 of 16
An Auction House

An Auction House

Maybe the developers just didnt like the idea of heroes and villains selling their capes and tights, but DCUO didnt have an auction house when it first launched. Pretty quickly, however, Brokers were introduced, bringing economic freedom to all. Selling with requires a small listing fee, and Brokers use a simple buyout system rather than bidding.

Page 13 of 16
Page 13 of 16
Lockboxes

Lockboxes

Its not so much whats in them as the tease of not knowing that gets to us. Thats probably what SOE is banking on. Luckily, these items are rare, and dont drop too often.

Page 14 of 16
Page 14 of 16
SOE All Access pass

SOE All Access pass

If youre interested in subscribing to more than one SOE game, at $19 a month, All Access is the most cost effective way to do it. Also, before putting any money down, you can always check out the free-to-play portions of EQ II or Planetside before committing.

Page 15 of 16
Page 15 of 16
What will you fight for?

What will you fight for?

Just like the forces of good and evil, DC Universe Online grows more powerful with each passing day. Whether you're an MMO fan or not, why not take advantage of its free-to-play option and give it a whirl? And for more on MMOs, check out our list of the Best MMORPGs, Best Free MMORPGs, and Rift: everything Trion has added since launch.

Page 16 of 16
Page 16 of 16
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PlayStation Platforms
PRODUCTS
DC Universe Online DC Universe Online
Alex Roth
Alex Roth
See more PC Gaming Features
Read more
Cyberpunk 2077 DLC screenshot
5 years after it was kicked off the PlayStation Store, Cyberpunk 2077 joins the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog
Lords of the Fallen screenshot showing two players side by side
It took 18 months and over 50 updates, but Lords of the Fallen finally added the one feature I wanted from this Soulslike RPG at launch: "full shared progression co-op"
Concord
Undeterred by Concord, Sony expands its live service army: PlayStation Studios adds new dev making a "team-based action game" targeting "years" of support
Star Wars Battlefront 2 screenshot showing
Remember 2017's Star Wars Battlefront 2? It’s good now – like, really good
the gorgeous review bomb cape with red streaks going down and small blue blocks at the top
Helldivers 2 finally gets its review bomb cape to celebrate your "unquestioning commitment to the defense of Managed Democracy"
A Helldiver holding a flag in a promotional image for Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 players, rejoice: Super Earth is in ruins and millions of NPCs died, but hey, we just got a sweet cape
Latest in MMO
Old School RuneScape
"There isn't FOMO and your progress matters": An MMO migration turns to revelation for some, with a World of Warcraft horde becoming a wave of RuneScape enjoyers
The Lord of the Rings Online screenshot shows two characters adventuring, looking at a building and a mountain in the distance.
After 3 years of attempts, the Lord of the Rings MMO's "Great Hobbit Run" is finally successful as a band of tutorial-level hobbits make it to Mount Doom, and celebrate by jumping into lava
Old School RuneScape Smite collab
So many World of Warcraft veterans and top streamers are trying Old School RuneScape that even Jagex has noticed, and the gap in MMO muscle memory is hilarious: "Chat I'm freaking out"
Dune Awakening
Dune: Awakening will finally reward your personal contributions in Landsraad thanks to a "game changer" update
Phil Spencer
Phil Spencer reportedly had so much fun playing the Elder Scrolls Online dev's unannounced MMO that Xbox's Matt Booty had to take his controller from him — 4 months later it's canceled
Dune Awakening
Dune: Awakening hoarders swiftly discover a second item duping glitch, barely a day after the survival MMO's devs fixed the first one: "This game is cooked"
Latest in Features
David Corenswet as Superman with Krypto the dog and a robot in the Fortress of Solitude.
James Gunn's Superman has finally found the cure to superhero movie fatigue: just make them more like comics
Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story
New indie horror Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story is Frailty meets There Will Be Blood with a haunting focus on family – and I have no complaints
Superman shows off his strength on the cover of Superman Unlimited #2.
Here's how to start reading Superman comics once you've seen the new movie
David Corenswet as Superman in James Gunn's Superman
Superman ending explained: your biggest questions answered on Lex Luthor, the Justice Gang, and what it sets up for the DCU
The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature
After 16 years of The Sims 3, The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature might just be the whimsical expansion pack that pulls me away from EA's iconic 2009 life sim for good
Superman
Every comic book character in Superman, listed in order of appearance in James Gunn's new movie
  1. Zion Wright grinds along a wooden balustrade in in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4's San Francisco level
    1
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 review: "A nostalgic, must-play hit for fans"
  2. 2
    College Football 26 review: “Thanks to rivalries and dynasty, this is the greatest show on turf”
  3. 3
    Mecha Break review: "This mech battler makes up for lacking customization with a varied roster that lets me live out my Evangelion fantasy"
  4. 4
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  5. 5
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  1. David Corenswet as Superman inside the Fortress of Solitude in James Gunn's Superman.
    1
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  2. 2
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  3. 3
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  4. 4
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  5. 5
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...